Steve Bellone proposes $3.9B Suffolk budget as term nears end

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has proposed a $3.9 billion budget for 2024 that bolsters reserves to historically high levels while keeping general fund property taxes flat.

The budget, released nearly a month after the original Sept. 15 deadline because of delays related to last year’s ransomware attack on county government, raises spending by about 5.3% to $3.9 billion, compared with $3.7 billion in 2023.

The spending plan, which requires approval by the Suffolk County Legislature, freezes taxes for the general fund and the police district, which covers the five western towns.

Taxpayers in sewer and other districts may see some increases.

Bellone, a term-limited Democrat leaving at the end of the year, said the county has gone "literally from the worst financial condition to the best financial condition this county has ever seen." He said Suffolk faced a $500 million structural deficit when he took office in 2012.

Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst), the legislature’s presiding officer, cautioned that although the county is financially healthy, the sales tax revenue that it depends on can be fickle.

"We just don't want to get into the trap of going on a spending spree just because we have it," he said. "As we know, these revenues, which are tied to sales tax — which is the majority of our revenue — can be fleeting."

The 2024 budget reflects a turnaround in county finances since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, Bellone proposed a $3.2 billion budget for 2021 that would have eliminated 500 full-time county jobs, curtailed bus and disability transit services and reduced funding for community clinics, public health agencies and nonprofits.

The proposed cuts were restored later after an infusion of federal pandemic aid and better than expected sales tax revenues.

The county has been buoyed in recent years by hundreds of millions of dollars in federal pandemic aid and sales tax revenues. The county took in a record $1.9 billion in sales tax in 2022, up from about $1.8 billion in 2021 and $1.5 billion in 2020, according to the county Comptroller’s Office.

Bellone said the federal money had been used to offset lost revenues during the height of the pandemic, but also for sewer projects across the county and downtown economic revitalization. It has not been used for general fund expenditures, he said.

Bellone said his administration has taken measures to reduce spending such as consolidating the planning and economic development.

The county is projected to have $630.9 million in reserves at the end of the year, and the spending plan recommends growing that to $722.4 million through the end 2024, according to county spokeswoman Marykate Guilfoyle.

Bellone noted the budget establishes a Repair Reserve Fund to be used for emergency repairs rather than relying on borrowing which would cost more in the long term.

The budget includes money for two police academy classes totaling 160 officers, Bellone said.

It also calls for 4% raises for all elected officials, including increasing the county legislators’ salaries from $107,051 to $111,333 and the county executive’s pay from $232,124 to $241,409.

The budget boosts information technology supply spending by $1.7 million to a total of $16,023,102. That includes cybersecurity additions to prevent another attack like the one discovered Sept. 8, 2022 as well as other tech upgrades, according to Guilfoyle.

Public hearings on the 2024 budget will be held Oct. 26 and 27, and the legislature’s Budget Review Office is expected to release its report on Oct. 20.

The budget, which was delayed four times between Sept. 15 and Thursday, must be adopted by Nov. 10 under the Suffolk County charter.

Suffolk County Comptroller John Kennedy, a Republican, said he had not yet reviewed the budget but expressed concern about the legislature’s ability to vet it in a shortened time frame.

“An abbreviated time period makes it that much more difficult to do an earnest and sincere review of an operating budget that is fast approaching 4 billion dollars,” he said.

Bellone said the impact of the delays will be minimal.

"We've spent a significant majority of this term under emergency situations," he said, referring to the pandemic as well as the cyberattack. "We're sort of accustomed to dealing in that environment and working through it. It really hasn't been an issue at all."

Kennedy noted when the new county executive takes office in January he can submit a resolution to amend the spending plan at any time.

Republican Edward P. Romaine and Democrat Dave Calone are on the Nov. 7 ballot to replace Bellone. 

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.